This week’s Saturday night Showdown contest on DraftKings is the second game in a series between the Seattle Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays, who have both won 62 games coming into this contest and are in the middle of the race for the two Wild Card spots in the American League. Seattle is 4 1⁄2 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the second Wild Card spot, and Toronto is one game closer at 3 1⁄2 games back.
Friday night, the two teams played a dramatic contest that ended with a bases-loaded walk-off walk to Jarred Kelenic ($6,000 CP; 4,000). It was the Mariners’ third straight win, and they’re now 36-24 at home while the Blue Jays fell to 31-29 on the road. They’ll look to even the series in Seattle on Saturday and will send Hyun Jin Ryu ($15,000 CP; $10,000) to the mound against Yusei Kikuchi ($15,600 CP; $10,400) in a battle of well-established left-handed starting pitchers. On DraftKings Sportsbook, the Blue Jays are the favorites with a -150 money line, and the over/under is set at 8.5 runs.
It should be another tense, dramatic West Coast contest and includes some intriguing fantasy plays on both sides, so let’s take a look at how to construct your DraftKings lineups for Saturday night’s Showdown contest.
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Captain’s Picks
George Springer ($14,700 CP) - Springer’s first season with the Blue Jays has been marred by multiple injuries, but he has been productive when available, with 16 home runs, a .352 ISO, a .413 wOBA and a 164 wRC+ over the 47 games he has been available. He has had most of that success against lefties, who he is hitting .313 against with a .433 wOBA and 177 wRC+. Springer has an 18.1% barrel rate this season, per Statcast, which would be a new career-high for the right-handed hitting leadoff hitter.
Springer knows the Mariners well from his time in the AL West and has gone 7-for-14 with a triple in his past meetings with Kikuchi. He has been locked into the top spot in the Blue Jays’ hard-hitting lineup and has been especially hot since the All-Star break with 11 home runs, 30 runs scored and 24 RBI in his 27 games since the break with an impressive 46.8% hard-hit rate over that span, per Statcast.
Abraham Toro ($11,100 CP) - Abraham Toro is another former Astro on the favorable side of the splits in this matchup. Toro was traded to the Mariners in an under-the-radar deal at the trade deadline and has enjoyed his time in Seattle, going 20-for-55 (.364) with five doubles, three homers, a .255 ISO and .452 wOBA over his first 15 contests with his new club. He has hit leadoff occasionally but usually has been hitting in the No. 5 spot in the order. Against lefties, Toro has hit .364 this season with a .388 wOBA. Most of his power has come when facing righties, but he’s a reliable producer of counting stats against southpaws and brings a high ceiling at a solid price in this contest.
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $15K Extra Inning [$5K to 1st] (TOR vs. SEA)
Value Plays
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. ($7,200) - Especially with a left-hander on the mound in this one, the Blue Jays will likely give Gurriel another start and hold Corey Dickerson ($6,000) out another game after he was removed Thursday night with a sore back. Gurriel entered for Dickerson in that game and hit his 14th homer of the season on his way to 14 DKFP. He has at least seven DKFP in four straight and in seven of his past 10 games. He has three home runs and nine RBI over that span while averaging 9.4 DKFP per contest.
Ty France ($6,600) - After coming over from the Padres in a mid-season trade last year, France is having his best season in the Majors in his first full year in Seattle. He has already set a career-high with 11 home runs and has produced a 123 wRC+ with his .146 ISO and .343 wOBA. He has slightly better power numbers against southpaws and has been hot lately, going 13-for-31 (.419) over his past eight games with 7.3 DKFP per game over that stretch.
Fades
Yusei Kikuchi ($10,400) - Usually I’m a big fan of both Ryu and Kikuchi, but they have both been inconsistent since the All-Star break, and the matchup is especially brutal for Kikuchi. In his 55 2⁄3 innings at home this season, he has a solid 10.19 K/9 rate but has also surrendered 1.62 HR/9 innings and posted a 4.53 ERA. The bigger issue, though, is that Kikuchi thrives against lefties, holding them to a .125 average and .179 wOBA in 109 batters faced this season. However, the Blue Jays don’t rely heavily on any left-handed hitters and could very easily roll out a lineup that features nine right-handed hitters for this contest. Kikuchi does bring upside with his strikeout potential but seems very high risk in this specific matchup, so I’d rather load up the Blue Jays’ bats who thrive against southpaws and face the Mariners’ starter.
The Outcome
The Blue Jays have been much better at home, especially since returning to Toronto, but I think they’ll even the series with a win in this one. Ryu has been up-and-down since the All-Star break and is coming off a brutal outing against the Red Sox, but I think he’ll be able to bounce back in this more favorable spot and turn in enough of a quality outing for the Blue Jays’ bats to back up by thriving in their splits against Kikuchi.
Final Score: Blue Jays 7, Mariners 3
Set your DraftKings fantasy baseball lineups here: MLB Showdown $15K Extra Inning [$5K to 1st] (TOR vs. SEA)
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